Hunter & Scribe

Name: Nick Bendel
Position: Owner
Website: hunterandscribe.com
Location: Sydney

Businesses know that content marketing generates leads and sales – but most don’t have the time or skill to write this content. So businesses get Hunter & Scribe to do the writing for them. The more content they publish, the more trust, credibility and brand recognition they build with customers.

What products/services do you offer?

Blogs, social media posts, ebooks, emails, website copy, case studies, newsletters, media releases and editing.

Why did you start your business and how long have you been running it?

I started Hunter & Scribe in July 2018, as a side hustle. At the time, I was a professional journalist, and for years my contacts had been asking me if I would do freelance work for them. Foolishly, I rejected most of those opportunities, but by 2018 I was at a stage of my life where I was thinking about my future, and realised that if I wanted to be really successful, I not only had to start saying yes to opportunities, I needed to switch from being an employee to an entrepreneur. And thus Hunter & Scribe was born. I did it on the side of my day job for about 18 months. I slowly grew the business, partly by saying yes to opportunities that came my way and partly by proactively chasing opportunities. By late 2019, Hunter & Scribe had become begin enough for me to quit my job and go full-time.

What struggles do you think most businesses face in your industry and what would you say they need to do to overcome them?

The biggest struggle all businesses face – no matter what industry they’re in – is making sales. So how do you make more sales? By doing more marketing. That could be paid marketing, such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads and letterbox drops. Or it could be free marketing, such as cold-calling, blogging and posting on social media. Either way, the more marketing you do, the more sales you’ll make.

What has been your greatest accomplishment?

My greatest accomplishment has been to record more than 300 educational videos. These marketing videos have helped build trust, credibility and brand recognition for Hunter & Scribe, which in turn has led to leads and sales.

What has been your biggest ‘fail’ so far?

My biggest failure is that I haven’t created proper foundations for Hunter & Scribe, which has forced me to spend too much time on lower-value tasks (admin and production) and too little on higher-value tasks (sales and strategy).

What do you love most about your business?

I love the fact that I regularly encounter obstacles, because those obstacles force me to keep learning new skills.

What do you find most challenging?

The biggest challenge is convincing sceptical clients of the value of content marketing. Clients, understandably, want an immediate return on investment, but you need to do content marketing for months or even years before you get a payoff. That frightens a lot of clients, and so many of them take what they believe is the safe option of not investing in content marketing. Unfortunately, their rivals are doing content marketing, and therefore winning market share at their expense. That’s why the ‘safe’ option of not investing in content marketing actually turns out to be the risky option.

How do you promote your business (please include as many details as you can)?

Hunter & Scribe is a marketing agency, so, naturally, we do a lot of marketing. That includes:

• Publishing a daily email bulletin
• Publishing written posts every day on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
• Publishing videos every day on LinkedIn, Facebook and Google My Business
• Publishing blogs every two days on our website
• Interacting with existing customers and referral partners every day (by text, email, phone and social media)
• Interacting with potential future customers and referral partners every day (by text, email, phone and social media)

What business skills do you have (eg. graphic design, customer service)?

My strengths are marketing, writing, speaking, relationship-building and strategic thinking.

What software did you/your designer use to create your website (eg. WordPress, Wix)?

WordPress

What are some of your favourite business tools and apps?

Google Drive, Trello, Buffer.

What do you like about your website and what’s not working for you?

The best part about Hunter & Scribe’s website is that it contains a lot of valuable information and it’s easy to navigate. However, there are several improvements we need to make, including adding FAQs, social media buttons and a media mentions page.

What lessons have you learnt during your time as an entrepreneur?

Everything that goes wrong is my fault.

What key tips for success in business would you like to share with others?

Dream big, take action, think positively and work hard.

What is the one thing that you want everyone to take away from this post?

Sales is the most important activity of any business, because if you don’t make sales, you go broke. That makes marketing the second-most important activity of any business, because if you don’t do marketing, you don’t make sales.